Seventy five plus 80

Back to school. How did we learn? It has been said that a teacher without a blackboard is like a skunk without a scent. Who said that? I just did! Our classes were very small, probably around eight to twelve, but when three grades were in one classroom, it was fun to do the higher classes work when they were at the board. There was a LOT of board work, I really enjoyed that. We did spelling, arithmetic and English grammar at the board. English grammar was taught in how to structure sentences and where each word in a sentence belonged on a sentence diagram. To start with it was easy. Jack ran. Suzi sat. And as the sentences got more complex, with adverbs, adjectives, articles, pronouns and prepositions, it was quite a challenge for all the kids, me too. With spelling and arithmetic we would go to the board, sometimes competing with another person, some times in groups and some time alone as the teacher gave just one word to you. AR and I were the champs at spelling and arithmetic. AR probably had the edge in spelling, but I think I remember doing a little better in arithmetic, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In the fifth grade I learned how to check my work by casting out nines. The other kids were taught as well, but most thought it was too complicated and did not learn to effectively use it. I still use it today. If you want the answer to be correct, check it by casting out nines.

I always enjoyed reading and read a lot. Some of the other kids in elementary school had real problems with reading. One of the kids I helped the most was Buck`s nephew, Adrian. In grades one and three, Miss Leavenworth would ask me to help Adrian read. I tried my best, but if she didn`t think he was learning, she would come along and pull his hair. She had told me to do that to him, but I never felt right doing it and generally made it look like punishment without hurting. I`ll do a blog on Adrian sometime, as he turned out to be as good a man as Eldred has ever seen, it was just that school housin` was never where he excelled. I was also frequently asked to help a girl, Emaline, to read but she had a very bad skin disease and no one wanted to be close to her. I was always glad when AR was chosen to help her.

The stories I liked the best were the dog stories, and I think I have read most of the books that Jack London ever wrote. As for poestry, we got a little of it in elementary school, but I never was big on poetry. That is another blog for another day. Had enough yet?